Marcus Smart looks good...

[ALL HAIL]

Marcus Smart is a championship player. Like Shaun Livingston before him he has crazy intangibles that just can't be measured. He'll be a top 6 or 7 player on a team that wins it all one day.

Still wouldn't pick him over Randle though, not for this team.

It's interesting to note, however, that I view a player like Smart as the near-.perfect compliment to Russell in the backcourt.

[Levity]

offensively, theres so much to be desired. and hes suffered a litany of minor, but consistent injuries so far in his career. but the guy has a grown man mindset when it comes to defense. how many other rookie PG's would you think would take the challenge of guarding lebron in the playoffs. that REALLY impressed me last season.

a backcourt of avery and him has the potential to be the best defensive backcourt in the league

[Teen Girl Squad]

We weren't in a position to draft him so it was irrelevant. This only goes back to the Smart/Randle/Exum debate. Smart also has the advantage of having a top tier coach versus our bottom tier one. He is still broken offensively, more MKG than Klay. If he can develop his shot ala George/Leonard than he can be really good but two seasons in (Remember this was Randle's first year) its hard to project that he will get to that level. I think Thabo/Bowen style upper tier role player is where he ends up but I wish him luck (though I really don't care for the Celtics, I always root for more good players in the league, not less).

[Pointgod]

Marcus Smart is a good player but I don't see him being more than Tony Allen with a better offensive skill set. Still someone you want on your team, but not necessarily the out the park pick up you expect from a high lottery pick.

Marcus Smart is a championship player. Like Shaun Livingston before him he has crazy intangibles that just can't be measured. He'll be a top 6 or 7 player on a team that wins it all one day.

Still wouldn't pick him over Randle though, not for this team.

It's interesting to note, however, that I view a player like Smart as the near-.perfect compliment to Russell in the backcourt.

You bring up an interesting point. Not only is a Smart and Russell in the backcourt could have a been a complimentary duo. But again if we had picked Smart do we still make the trade and select Clarkson? And if that's the case do we pick Okafor over Russell despite the fact that we believe Russell will be the better prospect long term? It just goes to show how many variables affect how you build a team. It also shows the importance of giving these young guys minutes and identifying who will be in your core long term.

[crazyeights]

Marcus Smart is a championship player. Like Shaun Livingston before him he has crazy intangibles that just can't be measured. He'll be a top 6 or 7 player on a team that wins it all one day.

Still wouldn't pick him over Randle though, not for this team.

It's interesting to note, however, that I view a player like Smart as the near-.perfect compliment to Russell in the backcourt.

Defensively, I can absolutely see that. But with Smart's poor shooting, it's hard to say he's much of a complement to anyone on offense.

Especially Russell, dude's used to being surrounded by shooters. Which of course, everyone should be surrounded by guys who can shoot, but some (like Russell), actually get how to play with a shooter.

[Frank Dux]

He's the biggest bricklayer in the league, and the new flop king.

He's easily becoming my least favorite player in the league.

[TylersLakers]

MRW I read this thread

[RingsDontLie]

I like Randle more. But I like Smart, I see him being a good role player, but I don't think he's going to be an all star like Randle can.

[Vae Victus]

Randle would look damn good too if he had a real coach...

*drools at the thought of having a real coach*

**** Byron Scott has stunted all the young buck's learning process.

[kjj4]

He's had a few nice moments in the playoffs but if you watch him for more than a quarter he quickly reveals himself to be absolutely trash offensively. I compared his career per game totals to Tony Allen's. Just look at this:

Tony Allen: FG%: .477, 3P%: .280, eFG%: .488, Rebounds: 3.4, AST: 1.3, PTS: 8.1
Marcus Smart: FG%: .357, 3P%: .296, eFG%: .432, Rebounds: 3.7, AST: 3.1, PTS: 8.4

(All stats per Basketball-reference.com)

So not only is Marcus Smart simply not a good offensive player at this point in his career, he averages a SIGNIFICANTLY lower field goal percentage than Tony Allen -- a guy who single-handedly destroys an offense's spacing due to his terrible shooting.

Granted, Marcus Smart can put the ball on the floor and drive to the rim, which is more than Tony Allen can do. Still though, he's not even good enough at that to make up for his terrible perimeter shooting.

I love Smart's defense and his toughness as much as everyone else, but he needs to significantly improve offensively if he wants to be anything more than the league's next Tony Allen.